I buy the Sunday paper mostly so I can clip coupons. Contrary to popular belief I am not rich and so I enjoy saving money just like anyone else. This last Sunday paper however, came with a front page story which I could not ignore. Titled “Seniors For Sale” a picture of an elderly man with massive black and purple bruises covering his body was on the front page of the Seattle Times.

It’s an industry that I have heard very little about but have had similar topics come up in readings with clients. You might ask what a psychic has to do with the exploitation of seniors? Well, in order to answer that you must first understand what exactly I do as a psychic. If you are familiar with my work then you already know I am consumed with the issues of death and dying. I work directly with those individuals who are nearing the end of their lives to help them prepare for their journey from this side to the next. It is of-course natural that I would also come across individuals who are dealing with every aspect of the aging and dying process, including the care of seniors. The people I speak with and read for are the parents of dying children, the wives of dying husbands, the children of dying parents and so on and so forth.

Everyone wants to know that their loved one is being given the best care around regardless of available financial resources. It is then one of the most nightmarish moments in any one’s life to find out that your loved one was abused by the same people you are entrusting their care to. Abuse is disgusting and the sale of vulnerable, frail seniors as though they are a commodity is absolutely mortifying. The story that made front page news went on to read that “The Times uncovered accounts of elderly victims who were imprisoned in their rooms, roped into their beds at night, strapped to chairs during the day so they wouldn’t wander off, drugged into submission or left without proper medical treatment for weeks.” In one home there was a worker who handed a lit cigarette to a resident who was connected to an oxygen tank, setting off a fiery explosion!

As a psychic, a human, and a person who even on their worst day has half a heart, I am disgusted beyond belief but the abuse is only part of the problem. You see, the homes where these seniors live are actually private residences which go from buyer to buyer. They are sold, seniors and all to the highest bidder. There are even placement services that work for kickbacks, thousands of dollars at a time for each senior they place into one of these private residences. Now, I cannot escape the fact that at some point in my life, God forbid, one of those seniors might be me. Why cant we all take just a minute to mentally and emotionally place ourselves in someone else’s shoes? If we stopped for just one second to genuinely and sincerely think about how we would feel, the whole world would be a different place.

As a psychic, my place in this whole mess is as a guide for the living in response to and prevention of, the guilt and regret that exists after these events take place. I am not without tears of my own when a client brings such repulsive stories to a reading. As I always tell those clients who are so concerned with the end result of their choices, feeling as though they were the cause of someones condition; you must look at the intent and not the end result when judging your own efforts. Intention is a matter of the heart. It is only with true and totally positive intent that we can know for sure we were free from blame in the first place. 99% of us do not make decisions out of spite, we do not do things with the real intention of hurting someone else. Therefore when the end result is less than desirable, we must remember that we did mean well in the first place and all events, good and bad are in our lives for nothing less than the opportunity to gain knowledge. After all, knowledge and wisdom are one of the few things that go with you when you die, which makes them some of the most valuable.

If you know of a senior who is suffering from abuse or neglect regardless of the circumstance please contact the National Center On Elder Abuse.